


Mercury

by meanderingmirth



Series: Short Collection [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 02:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3960292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanderingmirth/pseuds/meanderingmirth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various drabbles revolving around university students, volleyball players and cheerleaders, arguments, dark fics with supernatural elements, summer days, coffee shop AUs, and ghosts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mercury

**Author's Note:**

> so I don't update my other stories but I do take the time to write random short ones.
> 
> I'm gonna have to fight myself for this (ง •̀_•́)ง
> 
> enjoy!

_1\. Rum (Taekwoon/Hongbin - university students)_

He’s busy throwing up the remains of whatever atrocious mixture of too much rum and not enough coke Wonshik had mixed him into the gutter when Hongbin feels a warm hand rest on his back. He looks up, blurry-eyed, to see the quiet guy that had been hanging out with Hakyeon earlier that night, the one that had managed to catch Hongbin’s attention more than once with his serious expression and piercing dark eyes and the oddly familiar face—

The man is talking and Hongbin has no idea what he’s just said. “I’m sorry?” he rasps, feeling the sourness on his tongue as he talks, and he grimaces.

“Did you want a lift home?” the man asks, voice soft enough that it’s almost carried away by the late night breeze, and Hongbin turns the options over in his drunken mind and manages to conclude that the ride would probably be better than ending up in a ditch somewhere.

“Sure,” he grunts, trying to stand upright. “Thanks, uh…”

“Taekwoon,” Taekwoon finishes for him, a mildly amused expression on his face as he slings Hongbin’s arm over his shoulder and hoists Hongbin up. “Good to meet you too.”

“Likewise,” Hongbin slurs, slamming the top of his head into the frame of Taekwoon’s car as he tries to seat himself, and the pain is dulled by one too many drinks, Taekwoon’s concerned expression and a gentle pat to his forehead. A lump the size of an egg will form the next morning, but at the moment, all Hongbin can think is how the interior of the car smells a bit like coffee and the artificial scent of pine needles from the car freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. Taekwoon slides into the driver’s seat and passes a plastic shopping bag to Hongbin, who takes it and tries to put it over his head.

“Not like that, you’ll suffocate,” Taekwoon says, pulling the bag off and placing it in Hongbin’s lap. “Just in case you feel sick again.”

“Thanks,” Hongbin groans, feeling his insides jolt a little as the engine starts and Taekwoon begins backing out of the driveway. “You’re really nice to somebody you’ve just met.”

“Ah,” Taekwoon mumbles, fingers twitching on the steering wheel. “Well… you’re Hakyeon’s friend too, and he told me you lived in my neighbourhood. It wasn’t really out of my way, so…”

“Still really nice of you,” Hongbin grins, dropping his head against the cool glass of the window. He accidentally kicks a bag on the floor when he stretches his leg out, and a textbook spills from the open zipper.  _Musical Theory and Composition_ , the title reads, and Hongbin lets out a noise of surprise.

“Hey! I have the same textbook! For music class… at university… that one annoying morning class nobody wakes up for… is that book yours?”

Taekwoon gives him a quick side glance before fixing his gaze back onto the dark road in front of them, only nodding in reply. Hongbin laughs, pleasantly pleased even though there’s a thought nudging the back of his drunken mind. “What a coincidence, eh? Say, have I actually met you before?”

The car sways as Taekwoon turns and Hongbin’s stomach lurches a little, making him duck his face into the plastic bag with a moan. He feels the warm hand on his back again, patting soothingly, and hears Taekwoon’s soft voice murmur a “Don’t think too much on it, Hongbin,” before deciding to take the other’s advice sort out his thoughts another time (preferably when rum and coke wasn’t sloshing around in him).

 

_2\. Spike (Hakyeon/Sanghyuk - volleyball player and cheerleader)_

“You’re staring again,” Hongbin says flatly, jolting Hakyeon unpleasantly out of his reverie. He flushes and turns to smack Hongbin on the arm, making his friend scrunch his face up in pain.

“I’m not staring!”

Hongbin rubs his arm and gives Hakyeon a pointed look. “You aren’t exactly subtle, you know. He’s gonna notice, even if he hasn’t already—”

Hakyeon whirls around and slaps his palm over Hongbin’s mouth, muffling the rest of his teammate’s words as the volleyball team bypasses the cheerleading squad, on their way to the benches on the side of the gym. The female cheerleaders stand in a line and stick their hands out for high-fives, shouting encouraging words. Hakyeon looks as though he would give a limb to stand with them for the possibility of making actual physical contact with number 6; Sanghyuk, the tall, cute, first-year wing spiker. Hakyeon’s refused to admit that he’s got a _crush_ , even thought it’s a painfully obvious thing ever since he spotted the younger player leaping around the court at the beginning of the year. Hongbin remembers that moment very specifically because Hakyeon had been so busy staring he’d dropped Hongbin on his ass while they were doing their stretches with the cheerleaders on the other side of the gym.

Hongbin squirms away from Hakyeon and kicks the elder hard in the butt, making Hakyeon squawk indignantly. “I swear to god, Hakyeon, just go over there at the end of the game and talk to him, it’s not that difficult.”

Hakyeon pouts, jutting out his bottom lip as he fidgets with the hem of his t-shirt. “B-but he doesn’t even know me,” he mutters, scuffing his shoe against the floor. Hongbin opens his mouth to reply, but the girls are calling them over, and they’re forced to drop conversation and hurry over to the rest of the team. But Hongbin doesn’t miss the way Sanghyuk’s gaze is fixed on Hakyeon from where he stands at the other end of the court, an innocent, love struck look on his boyish face as he stares at the way Hakyeon flicks his hair away from his face and beams at the other cheerleaders.

Unbelievable, Hongbin thinks. I’m surrounded by idiots.

 

_3\. Days (Hakyeon/Wonshik - patching things up after an argument)_

The calendar was a mess of red circles, each of them drawn by a thick permanent marker, overlapping the other circles on other dates, counting down each day of the month. Hakyeon had surveyed the calendar with pursed lips and his arms crossed. He’s going to have to throw this calendar out before Wonshik gets back, mainly because there’s so much incriminating evidence of Hakyeon keeping track of the time Wonshik’s away scrawled all over the boxes. He absolutely did not miss that hot-headed, self-absorbed, rude  _jerk_  that decided to pack up half his shit from their shared apartment and flit halfway across the world for some sketchy temp job. Hakyeon had made that point quite clear when Wonshik left for the airport twenty-five days ago, using a raised voice and several objects hurled after his boyfriend.

He didn’t miss him. He  _doesn’t_  miss him.

But then he finds Wonshik standing in the kitchen at two in the morning four days later, smelling like cheap airplane food and public transit, his hair dyed a different colour again, staring at the calendar on the fridge. Hakyeon stands and stares, hardly daring to breathe as he watches Wonshik turn and his expression change from surprise to one of fond sheepishness.

“Hi,” Wonshik says quietly, hands swinging slightly at his sides. “I’m back… we wrapped things up earlier than expected. I took an earlier flight home.”

“I can tell,” Hakyeon replies, voice sleep-ridden and breathless. He takes a small step forwards, and Wonshik mirrors him, giving an uncertain little laugh as he looks down at his feet.

“I’m kinda glad you didn’t change the locks,” he murmurs. “Though I probably deserved it.”

“Probably,” Hakyeon whispers, closing the distance between them as he slowly wraps his arms around Wonshik, still trying to find his footing in the mess of emotions in his chest. He doesn’t miss him, he doesn’t miss him— does he? “But you’re back,” he whispers, like a question.

He feels Wonshik’s hands on the small of his back, and on the back of his neck, and when hears Wonshik murmur  _yes I am_  into his ear, Hakyeon finally stops lying to himself.

 

_4\. Feathers (Taekwoon/Sanghyuk - dark fic, supernatural!AU)_

The concrete is cold and unforgiving on Sanghyuk’s cheek as he struggles under the bony yet surprisingly firm grip of the goblins as they hold him against the flat surface of the roof. Several feet away, larger goblins are wrestling Taekwoon down, though he’s putting up quite a fight, striking with his fists and smacking smaller goblins away with his massive wings when his hands can’t reach. For a moment, it seems like there’s some hope as Taekwoon hurls several goblins bodily away from him, but then the portal ripples and the goblin king himself is emerging from the depths of the underworld, terrible and malicious. Sanghyuk trembles, every fibre of his very human body screaming for him to run.

The goblin king stalks forwards and kicks Taekwoon in the back, sending the archangel sprawling face-down onto the ground. The smaller goblins immediately pounce, forcing Taekwoon still, and Sanghyuk lets out a low moan of fear. Taekwoon grits his teeth and their eyes meet for a split second; Sanghyuk could see the desperation in Taekwoon’s face, and it hurts his heart.

“Not so spritely now, are we?” the goblin king spits, the words garbled on his tongue, and when Taekwoon refuses to answer the goblin king growls. He grabs one of Taekwoon’s wings, yanks it taut, and right before Sanghyuk’s eyes the goblin kind brings a gnarled foot down on the wing joint and breaks it with a crisp  _snap_.

Taekwoon screams, writhing in pain, and Sanghyuk cries out, fighting harder to get up. The goblin king brings his foot down three more times, stomping on Taekwoon’s broken wing until the archangel is shaking on the ground, pain etched in his expression.

“Stop!” Sanghyuk yells, anger and fear coursing through him. “Leave him alone!” He ignores Taekwoon’s soft pants of “Sanghyuk, don’t—” as the goblin king slowly turns towards him. The creature leave Taekwoon then, only to bend down and haul Sanghyuk up by the front of his shirt as the goblin henchmen back away, cackling.

“An itty-bitty human,” the goblin king sneers, putrid breath fanning over Sanghyuk’s face. “Tell me, human, can you fly like that archangel over there?”

Realization dawns on Sanghyuk a second too late, and then he’s yelling and kicking as the goblin king drags him to the edge of the roof, heels dragging into the concrete as he’s dragged. He hears Taekwoon shouting from the ground, but fear is muddling his mind as the goblin king hauls him to the ledge.

“Shall we find out, itty-bitty human?” the goblin king mocks, and throws Sanghyuk off the edge of the building.

The sensation of free-fall wraps around Sanghyuk like a vice, choking him as he plummets towards the ground, air rushing around him as his limbs flail helplessly in the air. I’m gonna die, Sanghyuk thinks desperately, too surprised to scream, and that was when he sees something leap off the building after him— it’s Taekwoon.

Taekwoon is falling faster than he is; he reaches Sanghyuk in record speed and his arms are wrapping around Sanghyuk, unbroken wing extending and flapping furiously to keep them in the air. The broken wing hangs uselessly on Taekwoon’s left side, and the imbalance sends them spiralling downwards. Sanghyuk clutches onto Taekwoon and fights to breathe, watching the ground speed upwards towards them. Above him, Taekwoon lets out a ragged growl and forces the good wing to work, and they barely manage to straighten slightly before they’re crash-landing into a large elm tree growing in front of the skyscraper, branches cutting into their face as they fall through the leaves and onto the pavement on the other side.

 

_5\. Bells (Jaehwan/Wonshik - one summer’s day)_

The sun is hot on the back of Jaehwan’s neck as he hands over the change to the man in the truck and receives two wrapped popsicle bars in return, one with a Spiderman pattern on the wrapper and the other with a Hulk smashing through a wall. He holds the icy treats by the stick, eager to collapse onto the dry lawn next to his bike to enjoy his popsicles. He feels a hot gush of air expel from the back of the ice cream truck as the air conditioning inside the vehicle kicks into the overdrive, and then the driver is climbing back into the front seat, starting the truck again.

He collapses onto the yellow, prickly grass, and tears open the wrapping for the Spiderman popsicle, relishing in the red and blue food colouring that’s sure to leave his mouth stained in its wacky colours. Just as he happily pops the treat into his mouth, Jaehwan hears the sound of a door opening and slamming shut, and then a male’s voice shouting, “Wait! Wait!”

A boy comes sprinting out from the house behind Jaehwan, nearly tripping over a crack on the driveway as he runs out wearing his shoes on the wrong feet. A hat is crammed haphazardly on his head as he runs onto the street, and it takes Jaehwan a moment to realize the boy is trying to chase after the ice cream truck that’s just turned the corner, taking with it a stockpile of cold treats. The boy staggers to a halt on the sidewalk and sighs, slumping over in defeat.

“You must’ve really wanted that ice cream,” Jaehwan remarks, propping himself up on his elbows. The boy turns and gives him a sheepish grin, tugging at the front of his tank top in an effort to fan himself.

“Yeah… I heard it but I couldn’t find the change in time…” He looks a little embarrassed, probably because he looks like he’s beyond the age of chasing after ice cream trucks like a child, but Jaehwan’s always believed in the spirit of youth. He does his pterodactyl laugh, succeeding in startling the other before he holds out the unopened popsicle to the other boy.

“Here, you can have mine,” Jaehwan grins. “Anybody who can run after a truck in this weather deserves a reward.”

The boy looks surprised. “Oh. Wow,” he says, tipping his head at Jaehwan as he accepts the popsicle. “Thanks, ah…?”

“Jaehwan,” Jaehwan beams, patting the ground beside him even though it’s technically the boy’s own lawn. The other sits down next to him nonetheless, happily tearing the wrapping off the green icicle.

“I’m Wonshik,” he offers in return, smiling as he sucks on the icy treat. “Were you headed somewhere with that bike?”

“Oh, you don’t know half the story,” Jaehwan says mysteriously, and the next few hours are dedicated to the recount of a thrilling tale of adventure, discovery, and beetle-catching until the hot sun has fallen behind the roofs of the suburban neighbourhood, and Wonshik is inviting Jaehwan over for dinner.

 

_6\. Surprise (Sanghyuk/Hongbin - coffee shop AU)_

“Hi,” Sanghyuk hears somebody say across the counter, and he groans internally, reluctant to look up from his phone when he’s in the middle of a particularly heated debate about Naruto theories with Jaehwan, but when he does he almost drops the device onto the ground.

Standing before him is probably the most handsome man Sanghyuk’s ever laid eyes on. He’s wearing a light coloured jacket over what looks like a sweater underneath, his jeans are fitted just well enough for Sanghyuk to make out killer thighs, and to top things off the guy’s wearing a pair of large, square glasses that Jaehwan would fondly call  _dorky_  but manages to look smashing on this guy’s face. Sanghyuk shoves his phone into the pocket of his stained apron and practically stumbles over his words.

“Hi thar! I mean, hi there! Welcome to VIPs Café— er, VIXX Café, can I get your number— order! I mean order.”

Handsome guy blinks at him, looking rather thrown off, and Sanghyuk sincerely hopes he won’t ask him to repeat all that again. He’s not quite sure his verbal filter is functioning properly right now.

“Order…?” handsome guy asks, fingers drumming over a rather tattered book in his hands, and Sanghyuk tries not let his attention get drawn in by hypnotic motions as he tries to remember the daily specials Hakyeon told him about his morning.

“Our soup of the day is broccoli cream, and our drink of the day is blueberry and peach smoothie. You can upgrade it from a small to medium for only fifty cents, and this offer runs today only!”

“Uh, I’m not here for soups or drinks,” handsome guy says slowly, peering curiously at Sanghyuk.

“Oh,” Sanghyuk says, surprised. “Are you here for the sandwiches then? Or the pies? Or… the cookies? I personally wouldn’t recommend the ones we have today, our baker likes to experiment and I’m not quite sure it’s actually… edible this time around.”

“I see,” handsome guy laughs, and Sanghyuk melts faster than a piece of cheese on the hot grill when he notices handsome guy has dimples. Dimples! Of all the ways to go, Sanghyuk didn’t think he’d meet his end like this.

“Unfortunately, I’m not here for the food today,” handsome guy admits. “I’m sure I called beforehand but I’m guessing you’re not the one who answered the phone.”

“Call?” Sanghyuk repeats, confused now, and handsome guy nods and pulls something out of his pocket: a lanyard, with a flat piece of identification hanging on the end. “Lee Hongbin,” Sanghyuk reads slowly. “Health… health inspector?”

“I’m here to do a routine check up of the cafe,” Hongbin explains, and he chuckles at the mortified expression on Sanghyuk’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the cookies aren’t bad enough for me to make note of it."

“Right,” Sanghyuk laughs weakly, heat rushing into his face. “Um, hang on, I’ll get the manager for you…?”

“That’d be great,” Hongbin smiles in return, and Sanghyuk scrambles away from the counter, blush rising higher in his face, and he doesn’t notice Hongbin’s eyes trailing after him as he goes, eyes fixed somewhere significantly below the apron knot around the back of Sanghyuk’s waist.

 

_7\. Shoelace (Taekwoon/Jaehwan - inspired by that one scene from Casper the Friendly Ghost)_

His classmates’ snickering is starting to grate on his nerves as Taekwoon stands at the front of the class, methodically going through the points outlined on his powerpoint presentation. Once upon a time he used to shy away from their taunts and teasings, allowing his classmates to take advantage of his silence. Even though his cold glares is more than enough to scare off the usual prankster now that Taekwoon’s fed up with their mocking, they seem to gather confidence in masses. Oh well, he muses. Weaker beings to tend to flock together.

What he is curious about is the fact that Jaehwan isn’t hovering over the heads of his classmates, pulling faces next to bored students or blowing puffs of air into the ones that annoy Taekwoon the most. The ghost boy’s favourite way to make Taekwoon crack a grin is to use slapstick comedy at the expense of his classmates’ fear of the supposedly ‘haunted’ Jung Taekwoon, who can be seen smiling at nothing from time to time or talk to thin air. There’s also the case of mysterious accidents befalling anybody who crosses him. It’s never anything life threatening, but sometimes soda cans would explode unexpectedly, or bathroom doors would fly open, and most memorably, Taekwoon’s worst bully’s bright red Pokemon underwear getting strung up the flagpole when he left his gym bag unattended in the field.

Something hits him in the face quite suddenly, and Taekwoon flinches in surprise, stuttering to a halt in his presentation. He hears his classmates stifle their giggles as he looks down to see a tiny, scrunched up paper ball on the ground by his feet. Rolling his eyes, Taekwoon steps over it and continues talking, turning his back to his classmates. He feels several more being flicked his way, bouncing off the back of his head and shoulders as the oblivious teacher slouches over his desk, marking off Taekwoon’s rubric.

By the end of his presentation, there’s a little pile of paper balls by his feet, which Taekwoon sweeps aside as he reads out his conclusion. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies movement near the floor. The semi-transparent form of Jaehwan is rolling about between the desks at his classmates’ feet. He catches Taekwoon’s eye and gives him an exaggerated wink and thumbs up. Taekwoon gives him a bemused stare in return as he reaches the end of his powerpoint. Nobody claps; all of his classmates are too busy trying to shove their books into their bags as the teacher heaves himself to his feet and tries talk about the homework over the sounds of twenty students whispering and moving about. Taekwoon pulls his usb out of the laptop just as the bell rings.

His classmates all leap to their feet, but there’s a sudden flurry of movement and shouts of surprise as everybody in the room except for Taekwoon and the teacher collapses onto the ground. It takes Taekwoon a moment to realize why: the shoelaces on each and every one of his classmates’ shoes had been tied together.

There’s a cackle of laughter as Jaehwan rockets up from where he was crouched moments before, doing somersaults in the air as he floats up to the ceiling of the classroom. “I got them good!” he hoots, eyes crinkling as he drifts towards Taekwoon, practically wiggling through the air with excitement. “Didya see that? How they all fell at once? That was amazing!”

Taekwoon ducks his head, stifling his own laughter as he watches his classmates groan and try to undo their laces, confusion evident on their faces. He’ll have to thank Jaehwan later; maybe with another rerun of One Piece episodes and some karaoke before his parents came home from work. His ghostly friend would enjoy that.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! (｀・ω・´)”


End file.
